Amy Winehouse film is second most successful documentary at the UK box office ever

Amy, the recent documentary based on the life of late singer Amy Winehouse, has become the second biggest documentary ever at the UK box office, grossing £3.44 million.

The film previously surpassed the award-winning Senna (£.3.17 million) before overtaking March of the Penguins (£3.3 million). Michael Moore’s 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11 still leads the way though, having grossed £6.5m.

“It feels like the country has fallen in love with her all over again and it is hugely satisfying to have helped create a more rounded picture of someone who was so massively misunderstood when she was here,” said Amy producer James Gay-Rees in a statement. “It was a massive honour to have been given the chance to tell her story.”

Winehouse passed away from accidental alcohol poisoning in July 2011 at the age of 27.

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Director Asif Kapadia recently spoke to NME about the making of his new documentary. Kapadia said that he became increasingly “angry” whilst making the film and finding out more about Winehouse’s demise, elaborating that he “wanted the audience to be angry” too.

“People watching the film tend to feel a bit guilty,” the filmmaker said. “One reading of it is that we all got into this idea that we could bully this girl, or join in laughing at her, because she wouldn’t answer back and didn’t have anyone around her who seemed to care.”

“We never stopped to think about what we were doing to her. This is a girl who had a mental illness, yet every comedian, every TV host, they all did it with such ease, without even thinking. We all got carried away with it.”